Abstract
We describe a simple method of the beat-note interferometer that directly and dynamically measures the phase shift of light pulses induced by highly dispersive samples. Using the method, we show intuitively that the storage and retrieval of light pulses in a medium due to the effect of electromagnetically induced transparency is a coherent process and, quantitatively, that there is no observable phase shift caused by the process. This method is sensitive enough that it can be used to measure the phase of a light pulse with energy on the order of a dozen photons. © 2005 The American Physical Society.